gasped, and either he pulled her to her feet or she shot there by furious propulsion.
“Jes’ kiddin’,” he said with a toothy grin.
But she’d gained her feet only to come face-to-face with Mitch. Crystal stifled a moan, wondering if she’d pass out again.
“Here, Doc,” Barney said. “This is the most hardheaded woman in all the valley. Got a cure for that?”
The room became still as night. Crystal flushed cold all over. Not a single soul in the room was unaware that Mitch had dumped her. Fascinated curiosity captured everyone’s attention.
He eyed her coolly, assessing, most likely, the mark he’d left on her unruly hair and swollen lips. “Haven’t seen one in the Physician’s Desk Reference,” he said maddeningly. “Hardheadedness isn’t something that necessarily demands a cure, though. And should the patient want to be cured, that would require a doctor of psychology. It’s not my field.” He winked at her, playing to the audience.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, exasperated with his audacity.
He shrugged. “When you fainted, Mom called me over to check you out. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She’d been completely fine until he’d stormed back into her life. “I’ve never fainted before. Never. You needn’t have bothered yourself on my account. I’m sure it was just an allergic reaction to something.”
He grinned at her.
“Come on,” Barney said, hauling her into the great room. “You’ve got about a hundred old chums here to talk to. You don’t have time to have a panic attack. Me and Frank and Lincoln’ll take care of you in case you start getting woozy again.”
Crystal groaned inside. She felt physically ill. But her mother and Uncle Martin and Aunt Elle were beaming like sunshine, delighted with their surprise party, and she’d be damned if she’d disappoint them. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at all of the guests crowded into the great room and flowing across the hallway into the parlor. “Thank you all so much for coming,” she said loudly. “What a wonderful surprise!”
Then she went over and kissed her family, with her three over-eager knights at her side.
Mitch, she noticed when she glanced over her shoulder, merely leaned up against the door she’d fainted against, his grin as irritatingly wide as a canyon.
MITCH HUNG AROUND, even though his medical services were no longer required. Aunt Elle pressed a drink into his hand, and Martin managed to get him into a discussion about the skin on Martin’s upper arm that had turned brown in an odd-shaped patch. Mitch recommended a specialist for him to see, and then Bess spirited him into the kitchen so she could thank him for the roses displayed on the table.
“Crystal doesn’t know you sent them,” Bess confided. “We didn’t have a chance to tell her.”
“That’s all right.”
She didn’t say anything to that, and Mitch suddenly wondered why he’d been lured into the kitchen, away from the guests. Away from Crystal. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked, wondering if she perhaps had a reason for keeping him in here with her.
“Well, you could put some olives on top of those crackers with the spread on them, and arrange a little garnish beside that cheese ball.”
He glanced in the direction she indicated. Tiny olive slices sat atop different types of spread, and perfectly placed rows of crackers lay waiting beside a tempting cheese ball. His lips folded. “You’ve already done that, Bess.”
She looked up, her attention clearly elsewhere. “Oh, you’re right. How silly of me.”
“Can I carry them out to the guests for you?”
“Oh, no, Mitch. You just sit right down here and make yourself comfortable.”
He sat but decided Bess had a motive. “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Why, no!” She gave a high laugh. “I just haven’t seen you in so long I thought I’d allow myself to monopolize your time for a little while. Neighbor’s privilege, you know.”
Through the serving window, he could see Crystal being squired around the room by Frankie, Lincoln and Barney. She now wore a feisty red dress with a short, knife-pleat skirt that swayed gently just above her knees when she slow-danced to the three-piece band on the patio. After Crystal had sufficiently gained her footing, Elle had spirited her upstairs to give her a “birthday present,” which turned out to be the hot red number and matching sparkly heels. She’d pulled her blond hair up into a glamorous fall of curls and applied siren-red lipstick to her sweet, heart-shaped lips. The severely professional Crystal had disappeared with a wave of Elle’s nimble fingers. He had to give them credit: Elle and Bess on a manhunt for Crystal was a formidable quest. One of those unsuspecting but eager lunkheads drooling on Crystal would find his finger skewering a wedding ring if he wasn’t careful.
He shook his head. “So this isn’t a surprise party as much as open season for Crystal.”
Bess’s fingers hesitated over the cucumbers she was paring. “Whatever do you mean?”
“The knights invited to pay court to your daughter.”
She gave him an innocent look. “I have no idea of your meaning, Mitch. We merely invited everyone who was still in Lover’s Valley who was Crystal’s age and our acquaintance.”
None too smoothly, Frankie put his hand at the small of Crystal’s back, only to collide with Barney’s hand, which was already there. Both men jerked their hands away from Crystal and glared at each other. Lincoln took advantage of this break in bodily possession to claim Crystal for a dance. Mitch grinned at the pained look on Crystal’s face, though it was instantly replaced by a polite smile.
He shifted on the chair and snagged a cucumber from the neat row Bess had sliced. She smacked his hand without rancor and continued cutting.
“You look very nice, Bess.” It was the truth, but he could tell his compliment flustered her. She wore an elegant dress of blue silk, long-sleeved and to her knees, perfect for church.
“Don’t flatter me, Mitch. It’s not my big night,” she told him, her tone brisk.
“Well, maybe I should go tell the bride—I mean, the belle of the ball—how nice she looks.”
“No!” The line of cucumbers she’d been nervously slicing fanned into disorder as her head jerked up. “I mean, don’t go just yet.”
Grabbing a cracker off the round plate, he popped it into his mouth, trying to figure out what Bess really wanted. After a second, he had it. “I get it. You don’t want me around Crystal. Why didn’t I see that?”
“Not necessarily, Mitch,” Bess said, her tone lacking conviction. “We let you have half an hour with her while the band was unloading and the guests arrived.”
“Oh, I see. And now I shouldn’t monopolize her because the other guys need a shot at her, right?”
Bess pursed her lips. “Any person who
